Android is an open source operating system that’s used on most smart devices such as phones, tablets and TV boxes out there. There’s often a ton of times you’d hear some tech guy talking about custom ROMS. While the term ROM refers to the read only memory part of a device that store the operating system, not all operating systems are custom. A custom Android ROM basically refers to a phone’s firmware, based on Google’s Android platform.
Since Google open-sourced the android OS, developers can therefore edit the code to their liking enabling more features, recompile it, and re-release for a number of devices. Phone owners can then proceed to download the custom android ROMS and install on their devices to modify the overall appearance as well as behavior. Custom ROMs based on Google’s open source platform are mostly developed by a diverse android community, often times by a group of core developers who do this purely out of passion for modding. This means that most are completely free. Custom ROMs are available for phones, tablets, media players, smart watches and almost any type of device running Android.
Google’s “Play Protect Certification”
While the primary agenda for someone to install a custom ROM is to have additional functionalities which would have otherwise been disabled by the manufacturer, some applications on the play store such as Netflix, Pokémon and loan app Zenka will not install unless your device is “Play protect Certified”
How to check if your device is certified
- On your android device, tap on the Google Play Store app
- Followed by pulling the sidebar menu from the left
- Press on Settings and Scroll down to the “About” section. Your device’s certification status should be shown under “device certification.”
There are some requirements a manufacturer need to meet for a device to be certified, however some do ignore these requirements rendering those devices to be uncertified. If you install a custom ROM, there’s almost certain possibility that your device may end up being uncertified but you can submit your device’s ID using this app and submit here to have it certified.
Safetynet android security flag
Another reason why you can’t install banking apps as well as Netflix, Pokemon and Zenka on a device with a custom ROM is because the safetynet security feature is triggered. Most ROM developers use development keys instead of release keys and these apps will often mistake your device to be rooted – it’s a false positive.
How to install Netflix, Pokemon, Zenka, banking apps on a device with custom ROM
Most banking apps will show that your device is rooted even though its not, to solve this issue will involve to actually root your device for real this time using Magisk.
- First, you’ll need to install the Magisk manager app from here
- Launch Magisk manager then tap “install Magisk” zip, magisk app should be downloaded to the downloads folder on your phone
- Reboot your phone into recovery and install the “Magisk” zip you downloaded.
- Once complete, restart your device and launch “Magisk Manager” app. You should see that Magisk is installed.
- You can then press on the settings menu, open “Migisk hide” and select installed banking apps that you want to hide root from.
Magisk will patch the safetynet trigger and you should see Netflix, Pokemon, Zenka on the play store ready to be installed.
